Despicable Safari Operator
In May 2023 I booked a 3-night safari and accommodations at Kicheche Mara Camp for a trip starting in July 2024. For context, my wife and I spent 6 nights at Kicheche Mara Camp and Kicheche Laikipia camp on our honeymoon in July 2022. I wanted to take my 83-year-old mother on safari, so I decided to book again with Kicheche Camps. Sadly, in August 2023 I learned my sister had been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, and she would be undergoing grueling chemotherapy treatment and surgeries over the course of the next year. The clear, but painful decision was to cancel our Africa trip. My mother and I are devastated by the heartbreaking news of my sister, and crestfallen about our need to cancel our African safari.
I notified our travel agent in August 2023 of our need to cancel the trip and requested a refund of my deposit. The travel agent responded to the tragic news with compassion and complete understanding given the circumstances, and agreed to waive their cancellation fees. Our trip included 6 different accommodation/safari bookings (including 3 nights at Kicheche Mara Camp) across 4 countries in Africa. Our travel agent worked with the accommodations and safari operators to issue a refund, explaining to them our unique and terribly unfortunate situation. Ultimately, every accommodation and safari operator except Kicheche Camps refunded my deposit money. Even after the kind owner of the travel agency took a personal interest in our dilemma, and contacted Kicheche Camps himself to request they reconsider their decision, they continued to refuse to refund our deposit (approximately $1,700 USD).
For Kicheche Camps to refuse a refund to a repeat guest, giving 11 months advanced notice of cancellation, and knowing my sister is dying of cancer is cruel, and smacks of appalling greed. It would literally cost Kicheche Camps nothing to refund my deposit, as I am certain that our cancelled reservations would easily and rapidly be rebooked by other guests. Their decision not to refund my deposit is completely unforgivable, and exposes the owners of Kicheche Camps as lacking integrity and a moral compass. I am outraged and disgusted by their unconscionable insensitivity. It is absolutely deplorable that Kicheche Camps would willingly and knowingly profit from my family’s horrible misfortune and is beyond the pale of human decency. Kicheche Camp’s decision to hide behind a draconian no-refund policy shows they are devoid of the smallest shred of compassion, and nothing more than heartless, greedy cowards.